My understanding is as follows:

The older rooms have safes
The newer rooms opened without safes but Harrahs has been putting them in

You could call the front desk - they should know the answer to this.

Could someone rank Harrahs and Ballys on the following criteria from 1* to 5*?

Location (wrt to center-strip)
Food (middle-class; buffets, pub style etc.)
Rooms (cleanliness, size, views)
Casino (table games & poker room mainly)
Resort (Pool area, spa/hottubs)

I understand both are in a pretty good location (Stayed at Caesars a few years ago) but really trying to weigh my decision based on the rest of these factors. Thanks

What are you looking to do in LV? If you want to spend time at the Casino Royale/Mirage/Linq/Venetian/Wynn, Harrahs is better. If you want to spend time at Caesars/P Ho/Paris/Bellagio in addition to your reg. hotel (or if you want to head down to MGM area) then Ballys location is better. Neither of these are places I would spend a bunch of time on my own.

Overall I'd pick Harrahs because I like that location better and I like gambling in the Linq, but I'd get a newer room.

wrt to your questions:

- Location is above
- I wouldn't put either in my top 5 for food. Pick what is around there
- Rooms...both have old and new rooms. Ballys are bigger. Harrahs can have a better view
- Casino: same games and limits, generally. Bally's floor is nicer, IMO
- I can't comment on spa or pool

Both pools suck

I think harrahs and area have better food, primarily cause of the linq promenade and 24/7 McDonald's.

I hate the walk from the strip to my room in Bally's a lot. I think harrahs has the best location on the strip.

I've also had a soft spot for harrahs for a long time, and for me unless all the other cet hotels are booked Bally's is last.

Bally's has the quietest rooms. Harrahs and Flamingo feel and sound like noisy dormitories. Harrahs has a better buffet Balley's has a good cafe. I stay at bally's before harrahs or flamingo.

You can't beat the pool scene at Flamingo at least for free.

Location: I prefer Harrahs. You can quickly get to Bellagio/Caesars but can also get quickly to Venetian/Wynn. I primarily play at Wynn so this is an outstanding location. That being said, with Uber now in Vegas you can easily travel up and down the strip pretty cheaply.

Food: I guess Bally's has new places like Wahlburgers in their grand bazaar shops but Harrah's is super close to the Linq promenade which has lots of restaurants. Also, Linq has a couple 24/7 restaurants. I do enjoy walking from Bally's to Ellis Island for a late night steak and eggs but I'm adventurous like that. Bally's is connected to Paris so there are lots of food options there but nothing I was really ever too interested in.

Rooms: I just stayed at Harrahs and was completely shocked to find my non-renovated room was completely clean. I have no complaints about it at all. The elevators were newer and the hallways looked nicer than what you will find at the old tower at Bally's. For that reason I give Harrah's old rooms the edge over Bally's and given their age I suspect the newly renovated rooms at Harrahs are nicer than Bally's too. I did get a real sweet jacuzzi suite in Ballys new tower once. It was huge and had a great strip view.

Casino: Something about Harrahs casino just disgusts me. It's smoky and grimey with low ceilings. I just want to get out of there as quickly as possible. Bally's casino feels much nicer. I don't play much at either poker room but would rather play at Ballys due to atmosphere but Harrahs may get more games (not sure).

Resort: I've never used any resort features.

My perception of Harrahs has always been that it is the nut low given how terrible the actual casino is but after staying there my perception is that it's not as bad of a place to stay as you would think.

Oh one thing: Harrah's did get noisy as **** in the morning between the loud guests in the hallway and the cleaning crew. This is a common problem in Vegas hotels.

I'd take Harrah's for the food court conveniently located near the room elevators, they have cheap but good sushi, noodle dishes, bakery goods and pizza to go.

Bally''s doesn't have a buffet or cafe. Paris does though. The crappy thing about CET in general is food places close early, like at midnight. I think Bally's room service is breakfast hours only.

For me, the food choices are bad at both places, but at least Bally's has Johnny Rockets if you're willing to schlep all the way down to the food court by the sports book. But when I stay there I usually get In n Out, Weinerschnitzel, etc.

All helpful info, thanks

"better food" and McDonalds in the same sentence?
I agree that the Flamingo pool is a lot of fun, but would pick MGM over it.

I think both Harrah's and Bally's are in great locations. But while you can get from your room at Harrah's to the strip in almost no time, that's not really the case for Bally's. The very first time I went into Bally's I was kinda surprised that it's a little further away from the strip than I thought it was.

Late night McDonald's is a very redeeming feature in Vegas for me lol

wait until you try 2 am taco bell at P Ho

One other consideration for stuckinarutt - what are you planning to do in terms of shows/poker/gaming/whatever? I would consider this when getting a room. Being at Harrahs would be annoying if you want to see a show at MGM.

+1 to liking Harrah's food hall. I have had noodles, sushi, a salad, and a sandwich there. All were fine for quick dining - way better than anything in the Flamingo food court.

Which rooms should I request at Flamingo if I do the $20 trick? The prices there are dirt cheap and a few years ago, I got some remodeled rooms that were excellent. Have they remodeled everything now?

Get to a Go room. You don't want the Fab rooms if you can get an upgrade for $20.

I will say the Fab room I was in last weekend was not as bad as I thought it would be five years in, although I heard a very bad review from a friend in another Fab room on the condition of their bathroom (which is 100% the worst part of these rooms since they didn't rehab the bathrooms when they refreshed the rest of the room)

Personally, these redone rooms might actually still be worse than the untouched Harrahs rooms. They are clearly worse than the Linq.

All that space between the hotel and street with all the landscaping and bazaar used to be a big parking lot. Bally's used to be one of the most convenient places on the Strip to park. Then somebody decided it was unfashionable to have parking in front and all the parking lots disappeared.

What the hell? I was just there in November and walked right past where it's supposed to be.

There's always a $5 monorail ride.

Sorry, haven't stayed at Flamingo since 2011. I like their casino and pool but when it comes to getting a cheap room on the strip, I'd pick the Linq right now.

Linq is a higher price point. Initially they had Linq/Rio/Harrahs/Flamingo/Ballys at the same level with the next higher tier being Paris/PH. In my experience Linq is now generally at the same price point as Paris/PH (this is based on comp offers I receive)

For two people, at this point, you're better off getting an Uber

I find it varies by the weekend, the Linq is generally a little higher but it's not always the case relative to Ballys/Harrahs/Flamingo.

It is generally not at the same price point as Paris when I look - especially if you're looking at Paris's new rooms. P. Ho usually is in between the two of them.

I didn't realize Paris had new rooms.

I've stayed at the Flamingo my last two trips because of comps deals. Totally struck out on the $20 trick both times. However, there is something you can do: if the check-in line is long, use the kiosk. Get a room key. Go to the room. When it sucks, close the door and get into the "Room Changes" line, which will be MUCH shorter. Then tell them how bad your room is, and you will get a better room.

I tried to get a higher room, a better view, a Go room...nothing doing. I'll be curious to know if it works for you, but I would save your money.

Advantages of Flamingo though are the location, it has a decent poker room, and it's cheap.

Disadvantage: some of the elevators suck, to the point where you wonder if you will get stuck.

Do you get the key from the kiosk?

Yes, the kiosk spits out your first keys. You have to scan your D.L. and C.C. first.